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Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Pathfinder)
The Horsemen of the Apocalypse, often called the Four Horsemen or just the Four, are the rulers of daemonkind in the Pathfinder tabletop game. They are unique demigod-level daemons who rule the plane of Abaddon. Like all daemons, they seek the annihilation of all life in the multiverse. Currently, the group's membership consists of Szuriel (War), Trelmarixian (Famine), Apollyon (Pestilence), and Charon (Death). Description Each Horseman represents a fundamental aspect of death: war, famine, pestilence, and death itself (of old age). The term is gender-neutral - male, female, and non-binary daemons have all held the title of Horseman. The title is highly coveted by other daemons, and the lesser daemon nobles known as harbingers constantly vie to take advantage of - or create - a vacancy in the Horsemen's ranks in order to claim the rank for themselves. Each Horseman is the sovereign ruler of a vast section of Abaddon. Apollyon rules Plaguemere, Trelmarixian controls Wasting, Szuriel rules the Cinder Furnace, and Charon controls the River Styx. Within these realms, they have reality-warping powers that augment their already-immense might. Each Horseman also commands the exclusive loyalty of one race of daemons as their deacons. The Horsemen present a seemingly unified and unbreakable front to other planar powers. In fact, there exists considerable internal friction among the Horsemen. Charon, the oldest and most powerful of the Horsemen, acts as a "first among equals" for the group, smoothing over disputes and ensuring that no one outside the Four knows about them. He is not truly the leader, but the other Horsemen universally respect his judgement. History The original Four Horsemen were created by the Oinodaemon, the very first daemon to exist. At some point, the Oinodaemon created the astradaemons to act as his own deacons, and the Horsemen retaliated by overthrowing and imprisoning him. Since then, the Horsemen have ruled Abaddon. Out of those original Horsemen, all have since been slain except for Charon, the last survivor of the original Four. The shifting ranks of the Horsemen have been involved in many disasters and calamities across the planes. One Horseman, now deceased, accidentally created demonkind by merging a chaotic evil soul with a captive qlippoth. This act "inspired" the Abyss to do the same thing trillions of times over, leading to the near-extinction of the qlippoth. This Horseman was later tortured and murdered by the demonic deity Lamashtu during her wars against Abaddon so that she could learn how to do the same thing. Lamashtu also killed one other Horseman during the same wars. While the Horsemen are almost universally hated and feared by non-daemons, they still have a history of bargaining and diplomacy with other beings. Charon in particular is known to make reasonable-seeming deals with those desperate enough to come to him for help. Often, these deals do not actually deliver the promised relief and instead result in the hapless dealer's damnation, and each deal is always one step on the road to the end of the universe. Szuriel also rents out her armies to mortal and immortal powers on the condition that her troops can eat the souls of their enemies' dead. Szuriel's forces drive these wars to mutual genocide, and always turn on their employers in the end. Category:Tabletop Games Villains Category:Deities Category:Neutral Evil Category:Cataclysm Category:Genocidal Category:Tyrants Category:Reality-Warpers Category:Organizations Category:Collector of Souls Category:Dark Forms Category:Misanthropes